Ohio EPA Taking Public Comments on Proposed Water Quality Standards

Ohio EPA will hold a public hearing on Aug. 23, 2017, to take comments on proposed water quality standards, which include criteria that would cover pesticides, dredged material and E. coli.

The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Ohio EPA Conference Center, Room A, 50 West Town Street, Suite 700, Columbus. Ohio EPA will accept comments pertaining to the proposed rules. Please register to present testimony by calling (614) 644-2160. Visitors to the building must present a photo I.D.

As part of the Agency’s five-year rule review requirements, Ohio EPA has reviewed the purpose and criteria applicable to all water rules and is proposing the following changes:

adding criteria to cover harbor or navigation maintenance requirements to support a law banning open lake disposal of dredged material by 2020;

clarifying exceptions from water quality standards that apply to pesticide application, construction activities and dredging; and

making the E. coli count associated with a public health nuisance consistent with the value used for Ohio’s water quality standards for secondary contact recreation.

The proposed rules address the reasons water quality standards are needed in Ohio, what those standards should be and how they are applied. The proposed rules are designed to protect surface waters of the state. The proposed rules also address when exceptions can be made to the rules.

Written comments should be mailed to Rules Coordinator, Ohio EPA Division of Surface Water, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049, or emailed to dsw_rulecomments@epa.ohio.gov. The comment period ends at 5 p.m. on Aug. 23, 2017.

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The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.